Method and system for managing network resources in audio/video bridging enabled networks

ABSTRACT

Aspects of a method and system for managing network resources in audio/video bridging enabled networks are provided. In this regard, network resources reserved via AVB may be allocated for administrative and/or control traffic. Additionally, administrative and/or control data may be assigned highest priority for routing in the network. In this regard, priority of traffic may be determined via one or more bits of a VLAN tag associated with the traffic. For each AVB stream registered in the network, there may be a corresponding portion of the reserved network resources allocated for administrative and/or control data. The portion of reserved network resources allocated for administrative and/or control data may be based on past, present, or expected network statistics. Portions of the reserved resources not allocated for administrative and/or control data may be utilized for communicating one or more multimedia streams. In this regard, the unallocated resources may be distributed amongst the one or more multimedia streams. Allocating reserved resources for administrative and/or control traffic may ensure reliable communication of the administrative and/or control traffic, by preventing one or more multimedia streams from monopolizing network resources.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This patent application makes reference to, claims priority to and claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60917870 filed on May 14, 2007.

The above stated application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to networking. More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to a method and system for managing network resources in audio/video bridging (AVB) enabled networks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The generation and rendering of high end graphics often involves the movement of large quantities of data. Frequently the data is stored in a server, from which it may be accessed by users at computer workstations via a network. Once the data is received at the computer workstation, the graphics may be displayed on an attached video monitor. In many cases the video monitor is physically separate and has been conventionally attached to the computer workstation via an analog interface, such as a video graphics array (VGA) interface, or a digital interface such as a digital visual interface (DVI). In a typical configuration, an interface in the computer workstation is connected to a compatible interface in the video monitor via an interstitial connector, such as a cable.

The ever increasing amount of multimedia content, and in particular, high quality multimedia content is presenting a number of challenges to designers and administrators of computing platforms and network alike. For example, bandwidth, hardware, and the isochronous nature of multimedia file transfers are all factors limiting the quality and availability of the multimedia content. In this regard a number of standards have been developed for transporting high quality multimedia data for presentation. For example, the digital video interface (DVI) and High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) represent two of the most widely adopted and utilized display interfaces. However, DVI and HDMI each have a number of drawbacks which Video electronics Standards Association (VESA) has attempted to address with the newly emerging DisplayPort (DP) standard. In this regard, DP may offer, for example, increased bandwidth and more advanced copy protection as compared to DVI or HDMI.

The increasing amount of data, and in particular multimedia content, transmitted over networks has also led to much research into ways to improve the quality and reliability of streaming data over bridged local area networks. Accordingly, the IEEE is in the process of standardizing a suite of protocols collectively known as Audio Video Bridging and related extensions (AVB). The individual protocols include, among others, IEEE P802.1AS—IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks—Timing and Synchronization for Time-Sensitive Applications in Bridged Local Area Networks, IEEE P801.1Qat—IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks: Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks—Amendment 9: Stream Reservation Protocol (SRP) and IEEE P802.1Qav: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks: Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks—Amendment 11: Forwarding and Queuing for Time-Sensitive Streams. Applications of these protocols include streaming compressed and/or uncompressed Audio and/or Video between various pieces of equipment. An exemplary transmission may comprise streaming uncompressed audio from an Audio/Video receiver to multiple Networked Speakers over an Ethernet network. In this regard, it may be necessary that the rendering of Audio in all speakers is synchronized so as not to affect the listener's experience. In this manner, the audio video bridging protocols are likely to be deployed in situations where quality of service is paramount to the user experience.

Display Port is a digital interface standard, which enables a computer workstation to send graphics and video data to a video monitor, or multimedia display device, via a Display Port interface. In this regard, the Display Port interface standard may describe a point-to-point interface, which is capable of transmitting data from a device connected at one end of a connecting cable to a device connected at the other end of the connecting cable. The graphics and/or video data communicated across the Display Port interface may be sent in mini-packets as described in applicable standards. The mini-packets may contain information comprising instructions on how to render the graphics and/or video data on the video display screen, for example. The mini-packets may be sent via a plurality of data paths referred to as “lanes”. In an exemplary Display Port interface, there may be four (4) such lanes.

In addition to supporting unidirectional data traffic from the workstation to the computer monitor (or other attached video display device), the Display Port standard may also enable the bidirectional transfer of data. For example, the Display Port standard may allow for the exchange of encryption keys to enable the transfer of encrypted digital data across the Display Port interface. This capability may enable protection of digital content transferred across the Display Port interface. In addition, the bidirectional traffic capability of the Display Port interface may enable communication of computer mouse and/or keyboard data to the computer workstation. For example, mouse clicks to specific regions on the screen, or keyboard responses to the screen display may result in the generation of data across the Display Port interface in the direction of the video display device to the computer workstation.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method is provided for managing network resources in audio/video bridging enabled networks, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment that may transmit and/or receive data over a network, in connection with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of an audio/video bridging enabled network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating communication of high definition multimedia content over a network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary Ethernet frame structure that may enable rationing network resources between AVB traffic and General Ethernet traffic.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating allocation of network bandwidth, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for managing AVB traffic, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and system for managing network resources in an AVB enabled network. In this regard, network resources reserved via AVB may be allocated for administrative and/or control traffic. Additionally, administrative and/or control data may be assigned highest priority for routing in the network. In this regard, priority of traffic may be determined via one or more bits of a VLAN tag associated with the traffic. For each AVB stream registered in the network, there may be a corresponding portion of the reserved network resources allocated for administrative and/or control data. The portion of reserved network resources allocated for administrative and/or control data may be based on past, present, or expected network statistics. Portions of the reserved resources not allocated for administrative and/or control data may be utilized for communicating one or more multimedia streams. In this regard, the unallocated resources may be distributed amongst the one or more multimedia streams. Allocating reserved resources for administrative and/or control traffic may ensure reliable communication of the administrative and/or control traffic, by preventing one or more multimedia streams from monopolizing network resources.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary Audio/Video Bridging and Audio/Video Bridging extensions (any combination of which are referred to herein as AVB) enabled Audio/Video equipment that may transmit and/or receive data over a network, in connection with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100 that comprises a host 106 a and a network interface hardware (NIHW) device 114. The NIHW device 114 may further comprise a medium access control (MAC) controller 108 a and a transceiver 104, to enable communication over a network. In various embodiments of the invention, the network may, for example, utilize Ethernet technology and may communicate over one or more twisted pair cables or wireless channels. In various embodiments of the invention, the AVB enabled A/V equipment may comprise, for example, a microphone, an instrument, a sound board, a sound card, a video camera, a media player, a graphics card, or other audio and/or video device.

The transceiver 110 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable communication, for example, transmission and reception of data, between the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100 and a network. The transceiver 110 a may support, for example, Ethernet operations. The transceiver 110 a may enable multi-rate communications, such as 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1000 Mbps (or 1 Gbps) and/or 10 Gbps, for example. In this regard, the transceiver 110 may support standard-based data rates and/or non-standard data rates. Moreover, the transceiver 110 a may support standard Ethernet link lengths or ranges of operation and/or extended ranges of operation.

The transceiver 110 may be configured to handle all the physical layer requirements, which include, but are not limited to, packetization, data transfer and serialization/deserialization (SERDES), in instances where such an operation is required. Additionally, in order to support AVB protocols, the transceiver 110 may be enabled to generate timestamps corresponding to the transmission and/or reception of data. Data packets received by the transceiver 110 a from the MAC controller 108 a may include data and header information for each of the above six functional layers. The transceiver 110 may be configured to encode data packets that are to be transmitted over a network and/or to decode data packets received from a network.

The data transmitted and/or received by the transceiver 110 a may be formatted in accordance with the well-known OSI protocol standard. The OSI model partitions operability and functionality into seven distinct and hierarchical layers. Generally, each layer in the OSI model is structured so that it may provide a service to the immediately higher interfacing layer. For example, layer 1, or physical (PHY) layer, may provide services to layer 2 and layer 2 may provide services to layer 3. The data transmitted may comprise frames of Ethernet media independent interface (MII) data which may be delimited by start of stream and end of stream delimiters, for example.

The host 106 may represent layer 3 and above, the MAC controller 108 may represent layer 2 and above and the transceiver 110 may represent the operability and/or functionality of layer 1 or the PHY layer. In this regard, the transceiver 110 a may be referred to as a PHY device or a PHY transceiver, for example. The host 106 a may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable operability and/or functionality of the five highest functional layers for data packets that are to be transmitted over a network. Since each layer in the OSI model provides a service to the immediately higher interfacing layer, the MAC controller 108 may provide the necessary services to the host 106 a to ensure that packets are suitably formatted and communicated to the transceiver 110. During transmission, each layer may add its own header to the data passed on from the interfacing layer above it. During reception, a compatible device having a similar OSI stack strips off the headers as the message passes from the lower layers up to the higher layers.

The MAC controller 108 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable handling of data link layer, layer 2, operability and/or functionality in the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100. Accordingly, the MAC controller 108 may be configured to implement Ethernet protocols, such as those based on the IEEE 802.3 standard, for example. Similarly, the MAC controller 108 may be enabled to implement AVB protocols such as IEEE 801.1Qat and IEEE 802.1Qav.

The MAC controller 108 may communicate with the transceiver 110 a via an interface 118 and with the host 106 via a bus controller interface 116. The interface 118 may correspond to an Ethernet interface that comprises protocol and/or link management control signals. The interface 118 may be a multi-rate interface and/or media independent interface (MII). The bus controller interface 116 a may correspond to a PCI or PCI-X interface. Notwithstanding, the invention is not limited in this regard.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of an exemplary audio/video bridging enabled network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2A there is shown a network 204 coupling a plurality of network nodes 100 a, and 100 b. The nodes 100 a, 100 b, and 100 c may be similar to or the same as the AVB enabled A/V equipment 100 of FIG. 1. The network 204 may comprise one or more physical links and/or network nodes enabled to route data. In this regard, the network 204 may, for example, comprise one or more twisted pair links, switches, routers, end systems, wireless links, wireless routers, etc.

In operation, a VLAN VL1 may be established between the AVB node 100 a and the AVB node 100 b. Similarly, a VLAN VL2 may be established between the AVB node 100 a and the AVB node 100 c. AVB and non-AVB traffic may be exchanged over VL1 and/or VL2. For example, the node 100 b may request A/V content, stream 1, from the node 100 a. Accordingly, the AVB nodes 100 b and/or 100 c may utilize AVB protocols to reserve resources for the stream 1. However, in addition to multimedia content comprising the stream 1, the nodes 100 a, 100 b and 100 c may need to exchange administrative/control data. In one embodiment of the invention, the nodes 100 b and/or 100 c may need to send data to the node 100 a in order to, for example, open additional streams, manage files located on the node 100 a, and/or perform other operations separate from existing multimedia streams. Accordingly, the nodes 100 a, 100 b, and any intermediary nodes comprising the network 200 may be enabled to monitor and/or control an amount of bandwidth allocated for administrative/control data. In this regard, allocating resources for administrative/control data may prevent multimedia traffic and/or general Ethernet traffic from consuming too many resources in the network 200 leading to communication errors, system failures, and/or network failures.

In another embodiment of the invention, the node 100 c may comprise an administrative/control node which may be enabled to access, control, and/or otherwise interact with the nodes 100 a and 100 b while stream 1 is being transmitted from the node 100 a to 100 b. Accordingly, resources between the node 100 c and the node 100 a and resources between the node 100 c and the node 100 b may be reserved to enable the administrative/control traffic, regardless of the amount and/or types of data being exchanged between the nodes 100 a and 100 b.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating communication of high definition multimedia content over a network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2B, there is shown a multimedia host 252 communicating content over the network 250 to a multimedia client 254. The host 252 and the client 254 may be similar to or the same as the AVB enabled A/V equipment 100 of FIG. 1. The network 204 may be as described in FIG. 2A.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the network 250 may enable communication at up to 10 Gbps. However, high definition multimedia content may exceed data rates of 10 Gbps. Accordingly, in instances where the client 254 may be allowed to reserve 10 Gbps for multimedia traffic from the host 252 to the client 254, the upstream administrative/control traffic from the client 254 to the host 252 may be bandwidth starved and communications may fail. In this manner, the client 254 may be unable to, for example, access files on the server 252, initiate additional multimedia streams, or perform various other tasks. Thus, aspects of the invention may ensure that at least a minimum amount of bandwidth may be reserved for administrative/control traffic, such that one or more multimedia streams don't monopolize communications between network nodes. Moreover, administrative/control traffic may be provided guaranteed quality of service (as opposed to best effort service) to ensure reliable and timely communication of administrative/control data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary Ethernet frame structure that may enable managing network resources allocated for AVB traffic. Referring to FIG. 3, the Ethernet frame 300 may comprise a destination MAC address field 302, a source MAC address field 304, a VLAN tag 312, an length/type field 306, a payload 308, and a frame check sequence (FCS) 310.

The destination MAC address field 302 may comprise information that may be utilized to identify the node that the frame 300 is to be sent to. The source MAC address 304 field may comprise information that may be utilized to identify the node that originated the frame.

The length/type field 306 may comprise information that may be utilized to identify the protocol (e.g. IPv4 or IPv6) being transported in the frame. In this regard, the length/type field may be similar to or the same as an Ethertype field in a non-VLAN tagged Ethernet frame. Accordingly, when the frame 300 is parsed, the VLAN tag 312 may be removed and the length/type field 306 may be shifted over and become an Ethertype field. In this manner, when a frame is VLAN tagged, the information comprising an Ethertype field may be preserved in the length/type field 306.

The payload 308 may contain data being transmitted by the frame 300. For example, in instances that the frame 300 may be part of a multimedia stream, the payload 308 may comprise multimedia data and/or auxiliary/control data associated with a multimedia stream. For other frames, the payload 308 may comprise administrative/control data which may be necessary to maintain the operations of one or more nodes in a network. Accordingly, aspects of the invention may enable reserving network resources for frames comprising administrative/control data.

The FCS 310 may comprise information that may be utilized to provide error detection for the frame. For example, the FCS 310 may comprise a CRC and/or a checksum.

The VLAN tag 312 may comprise a TPID 314 and a tag control information (TCI) field 316. The TPID 314 may comprise a numerical identifier which may indicate that the frame 300 has been VLAN tagged so that the frame 400 may be parsed accordingly. An exemplary numerical identifier may comprise 0x8100. The TCI field 316 may comprise a priority field 318, a canonical format indicator (CFI) 320, and a VLAN ID 322. The CFI 320 may be used to provide compatibility between Ethernet and token ring networks. The VLAN ID 322 may comprise a numerical identifier corresponding to the VLAN with which the frame 300 is associated. The priority field 318 may indicate a level of urgency associate with the frame 300 and may be utilized for network resource management, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In this regard, frames comprising administrative/control information may be assigned a high priority such that AVB reservations for multimedia streams and/or general Ethernet traffic do not prevent the timely delivery of the administrative/control information. For example, a minimum amount of bandwidth may be reserved at all times in a video server to ensure that remote nodes can communicate bi-directionally with the video server. In this regard, the minimum amount of bandwidth may be a cumulative minimum or may be a minimum per client.

The frame 300 may be communicated across a network, such as the network 200, utilizing Audio/Video bridging protocols. In one embodiment of the invention, the TPID 314 may indicate that the frame is associated with a VLAN which has reserved network resources across the network. Accordingly, for a frame 300 containing important administrative/control data, the priority field 418 may indicate a high priority.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating allocation of network bandwidth, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, portions 404 and 406 may be reserved via AVB. In this regard, a determined percentage of node bandwidth may be reserved for guaranteed traffic while the remaining bandwidth, portion 402, may provide best effort communication. For example, 70% of a nodes bandwidth may be reserved while 30% may remain for best effort service. However, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the portion 406 may be allocated for administrative/control traffic. In this regard, reserving bandwidth strictly for administrative/control traffic may prevent network and/or node resources from being monopolized and causing communication errors, network, failures, and/or node failures.

In various embodiments of the invention, the percentage of bandwidth which may be reserved via AVB, the sum of portions 404 and 406 in FIG. 4, may increase to 100%, or may decrease to a minimum bandwidth required for administrative/control data. In the latter case, there may be no reserved bandwidth available for multimedia traffic.

In various embodiments of the invention, a minimum amount of bandwidth may be reserved for administrative/control data for each AVB stream registered in a network. For example, for each AVB reservation request received by a network node, aspects of the invention may enable that node to reserve an additional amount of bandwidth, beyond that requested, to be utilized strictly for administrative/control data associated with that AVB reservation or with the client requesting the reservation. In this regard, in instances where the requested bandwidth plus the additional administrative/control bandwidth is unavailable, the node may be enabled to reject the reservation.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for managing network resources, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the exemplary steps may begin with start step 502. Subsequent to step 502, the exemplary steps may advance to step 504. In step 504, resources in a network may be reserved utilizing AVB. In this regard, a default bandwidth may be reserved for time-sensitive traffic. Moreover, a portion of the reserved resources may be allocated for administrative/control traffic. Subsequent to step 504, the exemplary steps may advance to step 506. In step 506, a frame may be received by a network node. Subsequent to step 506, the exemplary steps may advance to step 507. In step 507, it may be determined whether the frame received in step 506 comprises administrative/control data. If the frame does comprise administrative/control data, then the exemplary steps may advance to step 508. In step 508, the frame comprising administrative/control data may be routed utilizing the reserved resources allocated for admin/control traffic.

Returning to step 507, if the frame received in step 506 does not comprise administrative/control data, the exemplary steps may advance to step 510. In step 510, it may be determined whether the frame received in step 507 is attempting to register a new AVB stream. If, in step 510, it is determined that the frame is a stream registration, then the exemplary steps may advance to step 512. In step 512, it may be determined whether the stream may be registered without exceeding the resources reserved in step 504. In this regard, sufficient resources may be required for associated administrative/control data in addition to the resources required for the stream. Accordingly, if the stream and associated administrative/control data do not result in exceeding the resources reserved in step 504, then the exemplary steps may advance to step 516. In step 516, reserved resources may be allocated for the stream and associated administrative/control traffic, and the stream may begin traversing the network.

Returning to step 512, in instances where the stream and associated administrative/control data may require resources beyond those reserved in step 504, the exemplary steps may advance to step 522. In step 522, it may be determined whether additional resources may be reserved via AVB. In this regard, network administrators may impose a limit on the resources which may be reserved via AVB. Additionally, limits on the usage of network resources may be based on past and/or present network statistics. If, in step 522, additional resources may be reserved, then the exemplary steps may advance to the previously described step 516.

Returning to step 522 if additional resources may not be reserved, then the exemplary steps may advance to step 526. In step 526, the stream may be denied and the originator of the frame may be notified of a lack of network resources.

Returning to step 510, if the frame is not attempting to register a new stream, then the exemplary steps may advance to step 514. In step 514, it may be determined whether the frame is part of an existing AVB stream. In this regard, in instances where the frame may be part of an existing AVB stream, then the exemplary steps may advance to step 518. In step 518, the frame may be routed via reserved resources allocated for that AVB stream.

Returning to step 514 if the frame is not part of an existing AVB stream, then the exemplary steps may advance to step 5124. In step 524, the frame may be routed via best effort service.

Aspects of a method and system for managing network resources in audio/video bridging enabled networks are provided. In this regard, network resources reserved via AVB may be allocated for administrative and/or control traffic, as depicted in FIG. 4. Additionally, administrative and/or control data may be assigned highest priority for routing in the network. In this regard, priority of traffic may be determined via one or more bits of a VLAN tag associated with the traffic, as described with respect to FIG. 3. For each AVB stream registered in the network, there may be a corresponding portion of the reserved network resources allocated for administrative and/or control data. The portion of reserved network resources allocated for administrative and/or control data may be based on past, present, or expected network statistics. Portions of the reserved resources not allocated for administrative and/or control data may be utilized for communicating one or more multimedia streams. In this regard, the unallocated resources may be distributed amongst the one or more multimedia streams. Allocating reserved resources for administrative and/or control traffic may ensure reliable communication of the administrative and/or control traffic, by preventing one or more multimedia streams from monopolizing network resources.

Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readable storage, having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine to perform the steps as described herein for managing network resources in audio/video bridging (AVB) enabled networks.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The present invention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A method for communication, the method comprising: reserving, via AVB, resources in a network node; and allocating at least a portion of said reserved resources for administrative and/or control traffic to and/or from said network node.
 2. The method according to claim 1, comprising assigning said administrative and/or control data a highest priority.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said priority is identified in a VLAN tag of an Ethernet frame comprising said administrative and/or control data.
 4. The method according to claim 1, comprising allocating said at least a portion of said reserved resources for each AVB stream registered in said network node.
 5. The method according to claim 1, comprising dynamically allocating said at least a portion of said reserved resources based on past and/or present network statistics.
 6. The method according to claim 1, comprising utilizing unallocated portions of said reserved network resources for communicating one or more multimedia streams.
 7. The method according to claim 6, comprising distributing said communicated one or more multimedia streams among said unallocated portions of said network resources.
 8. The method according to claim 1, comprising allocating said at least a portion of said reserved resources to enable reliable communication of said administrative and/or control traffic when communicating one or more multimedia streams.
 9. A machine-readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section for communication, the at least one code section being executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform steps comprising: reserving, via AVB, resources in a network node; and allocating at least a portion of said reserved resources for administrative and/or control traffic to and/or from said network node.
 10. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, wherein said at least one code section enables assigning said administrative and/or control data a highest priority.
 11. The machine-readable storage according to claim 10, wherein said priority is identified in a VLAN tag of an Ethernet frame comprising said administrative and/or control data.
 12. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, wherein said at least one code section enables allocating said at least a portion of said reserved resources for each AVB stream registered in said network node.
 13. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, wherein said at least one code section enables dynamically allocating said at least a portion of said reserved resources based on past and/or present network statistics.
 14. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, wherein said at least one code section enables utilizing unallocated portions of said reserved network resources for communicating one or more multimedia streams.
 15. The machine-readable storage according to claim 14, wherein said at least one code section enables distributing said communicated one or more multimedia streams among said unallocated portions of said network resources.
 16. The machine-readable storage according to claim 9, wherein said at least one code section enables allocating said at least a portion of said reserved resources to enable reliable communication of said administrative and/or control traffic when communicating one or more multimedia streams.
 17. A system for communication, the system comprising: one or more processors that enable: reservation, via AVB, of resources in a network node; and allocation of at least a portion of said reserved resources for administrative and/or control traffic to and/or from said network node.
 18. The system according to claim 17, wherein said one or more processors enable assigning said administrative and/or control data a highest priority.
 19. The system according to claim 18, wherein said priority is identified in a VLAN tag of an Ethernet frame comprising said administrative and/or control data.
 20. The system according to claim 17, wherein said one or more processors enable allocation of said at least a portion of said reserved resources for each AVB stream registered in said network node.
 21. The system according to claim 17, wherein said one or more processors enable dynamic allocation of said at least a portion of said reserved resources based on past and/or present network statistics.
 22. The system according to claim 17, wherein said one or more processors enable utilization of unallocated portions of said reserved network resources for communicating one or more multimedia streams.
 23. The system according to claim 22, wherein said one or more processors enable distribution of said communicated one or more multimedia streams among said unallocated portions of said network resources.
 24. The system according to claim 17, wherein said one or more processors enable allocation of said at least a portion of said reserved resources to enable reliable communication of said administrative and/or control traffic when communicating one or more multimedia streams. 